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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be annoyed about parents being set homework

84 replies

Snowfire · 11/06/2011 14:32

Over half term my DD was set homework to take 2 photos per day (18 in all) of things she did over half term and take them in for a project to be done over the next couple of weeks. So, each day when we did something I would snap a pic on my phone or she would take a pic with my camera on days I had to work. It seemed like a nice variation on writing about what they did in the holidays and was quite fun.
However, on Sunday when I came to printing them out, it seemed like a rather unfair expense (18 sheets of photo paper plus ink) and wondered about how some less well off families would feel about it. On Monday after school, DD said that the teacher actually wanted the photos to still be in digital format so needed them to be either on a memory stick or disc (wasted photo paper!) and as I don't have a spare memory stick I tried to put them on disc, having never done this before I wasted a couple of discs before managing to put the relevent photos in an album and transfer to a disc (quite chuffed with myself for that). yesterday DD said that the photos had come up as a slide show and this wasn't what he wanted so could I do it again? AIBU??

OP posts:
southeastastra · 11/06/2011 14:32

blimey, couldn't you have just emailed them?

scurryfunge · 11/06/2011 14:35

I always used to email my son's homework to his school account or save everything on a memory stick. Much easier and I am sure we made one memory stick last for nearly every homework project.

Goblinchild · 11/06/2011 14:35

How old is your DD that you took many of the photos for her?
The teacher was wrong not to have explained the task in full, including putting the photos on a memory stick.
was it an option to email the photos to the school instead?
Transferring information to a stick or a disc is an end of Y3 ICT expectation in my school.

squeakytoy · 11/06/2011 14:40

Not sure why she couldnt take the photos herself.

And also not sure why the teacher was unable to work out how to change his settings from slideshow to see each individual image. If they were on the disc in slide show format, they would also be on there individually, so that was down to his incompetence.

Dylthan · 11/06/2011 14:40

Yanbu ds is in nursery and every so often the bloody class teddy bear comes home and I have to write in a book what ds and the bear got up to!

As ds is to young to read or write this is obviously homework for the parents and in all honesty I simply can't be arsed to do it.

It does remind me of my own school days though because I inevitable end up writing it up in a stressful rush the night before the bloody bear has to go back :o

Original poster
Snowfire · 11/06/2011 14:43

She's 9, it's not that she couldn't take the photos but she hasn't used photoshop for much more than basic editing, she helped me make the album. e-mailing wasn't given as an option, I don't have the teachers address to send them to. Actually, there wasn't ant written instructions, just verbal

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 11/06/2011 14:44

Have you looked right at the bottom of your daughter's school bag?Grin

squeakytoy · 11/06/2011 14:45

But I dont see why you would use photoshop at all. Just take the photos, put them onto a memory stick or a disc. No faffing about required.

Surely a teacher doesnt expect a 9yr old to be competant with photo editing and using photoshop??

Goblinchild · 11/06/2011 14:46

You just email stuff to the school office for the attention of... and they will forward it (just in case this happens again Smile)
You rarely get given teachers' email addresses, to many opportunities for abuse or spamming.
He should have had the task written down, several of the class will have forgotten what he wanted.

midnightservant · 11/06/2011 14:46

Aged about 12 DS's history homework was to make a model of a trebuchet.

Yeah right.

Of course DH did it. If I had been a single parent DS would not have had anything to take in. I wondered how the rest of the class coped.

Goblinchild · 11/06/2011 14:47

'Surely a teacher doesnt expect a 9yr old to be competant with photo editing and using photoshop??'

No, but some parents can't resist over-egging the pudding. Which is why he should have written the task down to avoid...confusion.

squeakytoy · 11/06/2011 14:48

Ah, "parental competetiveness" Grin

GabbyLoggon · 11/06/2011 15:31

Cooperation mixed with competition is ok. We dont want everyone to behave like ferrets in rabbit hutches.

elphabadefiesgravity · 11/06/2011 15:59

I would not have been able to do that as I can't transfer photos on my phone to the computer. The most I can do is to text them to someone else with an iphone or bluetooth for them to do it for me.

We had a huge problem with homework a little whilse back that involved sending in photos of grandparents. We didn;t have any (both sets HATE having their photo taken) and in the end scanned in and printed off on normal paper in black and white one we found that was very old.

elphabadefiesgravity · 11/06/2011 16:00

We tried emailing homework once too (internet research) it never got there despite trying twice.

onceamai · 11/06/2011 16:08

Not so long ago dd (13) had to take some photos for an art homework and crop and whatever with them. DH had taken the digital camera back to the continent and wasn't back that weekend. Had to buy a digi camera (got a good deal something reduced from £70 to £25). Had to work out how to use the thing then had to go to Snappy snaps to get help with the cropping and printing (printer at home not working). That sodding meaningful homework took about four hours of my time and cost me about £35.00. What do parents on a budget do? I was not a bit miffed and the dd got a detention for putting her hand up because she misheard the teacher when she said and who hasn't done the homework and I then spent another twenty minutes sorting that out. Aaargh!!

nailak · 11/06/2011 16:27

surely if dds hw was to crop the photos she should have done it herself and not ot the snappysnaps to do it?

and surely at 13 they have an it lab with printin facilities at school?

diital photo printin is only 5p - 10p a photo?

and op, sounds like you did the hw for your dd? she took a few photos but you printed them, put them on disk etc, which are all skills that she should be learnin as part of this project....

elphabadefiesgravity · 11/06/2011 16:50

Anything involving printing picures is a problem for us as we have a black and white laser printer attached to our business computer. Great for printing numerous letters in bulk but rubbish at photos. Photo paper doesn't go through the printer.

Mine are still at primary school and I think that at that age homework should not assume use of a computer (our business desktop is off limits to the children. They are very lucky in that the grandparents bought them netbooks but they are not attached to printers.

At secondary homework involving computers should not be set unless they have access to school facilities and reasonable time to complete it (accounting for school buses etc)

Goblinchild · 11/06/2011 17:23

I can't afford to print any of DS's homework at home, so he does it all at school or hands it in on a stick. State schools are not supposed to assume the ownership of a digital camera, computer or printer, so you are within your rights to make that point.
So please do so, they ought to realise that it is a daft thing to ask.

smileANDwave2000 · 11/06/2011 17:33

I get them toput it on a stick and print at school unless its only one or two pictures , but my kids know how to do it all themselves , if you ever do need to print photo's for school they dont usually mind it just on normal computer paper btw lots cheaper I really wouldnt waste expensive photo paper on something that will prob hardly be looked at and either stuck in a school book or thrown in the bin .

Original poster
Snowfire · 11/06/2011 17:50

Thanks Goblinchild, it did seem like quite an assumption, I won't be wasting any more photo paper! I may invest in a memory stick for dd so she can learn to do it herself next time, then maybe she can teach me Wink

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 11/06/2011 17:52

DS has several memory sticks, most cost about a fiver.

candr · 11/06/2011 17:57

Schools are supposed to allow you time to use their computors, paper etc as they are not allowed to set homework that may not be able to be completed by everyone. As a teacher the homework I set generally should not require parental assistance or many resources as I know parents are very busy and you still have to help with spellings, tables, music, reading etc. I would have a word wit the teacher and explain that it was unsuitable homwork and why.

nailak · 11/06/2011 20:03

but it wasnt unsuitable hw for a 9yr old to take pics and then put them on a memory stick? and she should be able to do it herself? my 4 yr old can take pics and then plu in a usb to view it on pc?

and the 13yr old, im sure the school had diital cameras available for those without, but probably people too embarassed to ask?

elphabadefiesgravity · 11/06/2011 20:29

Many 9 year olds will not have a camera or a memory stick though. Dd doesn't.

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